Business News

Report: Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt will exit at end of 2013 Glenn Britt, chief executive of Time Warner Cable since 2001, reportedly plans to leave the post when his contract expires at the end of the year. Rob Marcus, the company's president and chief operating officer, is said to be the most likely choice to take the job. A Time Warner Cable spokesman said Britt "is currently under contract" and "if and when that changes, we will announce it." The Wall Street Journal (2/1)      FX's formula for hit shows calls for creative freedom FX credits its development of hit shows to a model of letting the showrunners have more creative freedom, even if it means series full of dark, edgy characters and premises, according to John Landgraf, president and general manager of FX Networks and a former executive at NBC. "We wanted to adapt our process to what the creatives needed and have a more efficient outcome," he said. "We write a check to fund the production and they send us the shows. By trusting the people you work with -- sharing the authority -- and being willing to fail, things have gone pretty well for us." The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/3)      Other News NCTA report details rise in deployment of CableCards by top MSOs Multichannel News (2/1)

Programming News

• Discovery sets Feb. 22 live season finale for "Gold Rush"
  Discovery Channel will wrap the third season of "Gold Rush," its most popular series, with a two-hour live episode at 8 p.m. on Feb. 22. The promotional push includes a sweepstakes with the top prize a trip for two to see the finale, the first live episode in the series' history. The Hollywood Reporter/The Live Feed blog (2/1)     

• Other News

• Bravo drama series pilot will feature Anna Gunn of "Breaking Bad" as the lead
  Deadline.com (2/1)     

Eye on Video

• Why cable nets are unlikely to follow Netflix's programming model
  Netflix's model of distributing an entire season of its "House of Cards" series at once could lead subscribers to drop the service once they watch the show, said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. In contrast, "week-by-week viewing drives conversation," he said. "The more people that talk about a program, the more people may be compelled to sign up for the service. Netflix loses the water cooler talk completely. They lose the word-of-mouth aspect, which they were so quick to claim helped subscriber growth this quarter." Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (2/1)     

• More tablet use will drive changes in TV, study finds
  TV and video consumption on tablets by 2017 will make up 10% of TV, video and over-the-top viewing, equal to about 58 billion hours, The Diffusion Group has found. More than 2 in 3 U.S. homes will have tablets by the end of 2017, with the average number of such devices per household increasing by more than 100%. "This will create major new opportunities and challenges for content providers, TV networks, multichannel operators and advertisers," said TDG senior analyst Bill Niemeyer. "These companies need to be actively exercising their tablet strategies now, not later." Telecompetitor.com (2/1)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by CTAM SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• CNN's managing editor exits as Zucker revamps network (The Wall Street Journal)

• Sources: Time Warner Center in NYC could soon be on the block (Reuters)

• New Warner Bros. CEO made his name through VOD success (Variety (subscription required))

• It's official: Time Warner Cable will create Dodgers' sports net (The New York Times (tiered subscription model))

• Time Warner Cable posts 9.9% increase in Q4 revenue (Multichannel News)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Advanced Products

• Time Warner Cable has big plans for Wi-Fi network
  Time Warner Cable in 2013 will boost its network of more than 10,000 Wi-Fi access points by more than 100%, with most of the additions to come in New York City, according to Rob Marcus, president and chief operating officer. The cable provider's main Wi-Fi network is in Los Angeles, although it has built some access points in New York, Charlotte, N.C., and Kansas City. Light Reading Cable (2/1)     

Association News

• Last day to register for CTAM Unplugged
  Join CTAM for a conversation with Jill Campbell, executive vice president and chief operations officer at Cox Communications, on Feb. 6. Get a sneak peek of the second-screen experience Cox unveiled at CES and find out what else Cox has in store for the future. Register now for this event.     

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